


side effect

by bombcollar



Category: Dark Souls III
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 16:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bombcollar/pseuds/bombcollar
Summary: Casting spells without a catalyst comes with a price.





	side effect

**Author's Note:**

> Lothric is one of the only humanoid characters in the game able to do magic without a catalyst. I can't imagine that's good for your body.

“What’s the matter, kiddo?” Lorian had noticed Lothric shaking his hands and curling and uncurling his fingers for a few minutes now, frowning at his palms.

“…it feels weird,” he mutters holding his little hands out for his brother to see. Lorian takes one, gently straightening his stiff fingers out. Nothing appears to be wrong with them on the surface, though he notices the clawlike nails he filed down just yesterday have nearly grown back. They only seemed to grow faster every time, those and the feathers constantly sprouting and falling out from his back and vestigial wings. Lothric was so scrawny already; he didn’t need useless feathers draining him even further.

“What feels weird about them?”

“They’re numb. It hurts, like I slept on it funny.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t what happened?”

Lothric nods. “I haven’t napped today and it wasn’t like that this morning. It’s been hurting ever since I did spell practice earlier.”

He’d always had little scales dotting his body, but as Lorian looks closer at Lothric’s arm, there seems to be more than he remembers. They grow in disorderly patches on his wrist and the top of his hand and fingers. Lorian also knew that Lothric could perform spells without a catalyst, a talent that his tutors had fostered, though Lorian couldn’t be sure why. It was impressive, of course, but so much more dangerous for the caster in the case of miscasts.

Catalysts could break, they could become worn out from repeated use, even deformed. Even with repairs no catalyst lasted forever. What did you do when it was your own body? Injuries could be healed, but this wasn’t like a muscle being damaged from over-exercise. And Lothric was still a growing child, to put that kind of pressure on his body at this age… 

Lorian squeezes his hand lightly. “We’ll tell your tutors. Maybe they can find a staff that works for you.”

“They want me to do it this way. It’s more… special. Nobody else can do it…”

“I know, Lothric, but it’s not good for you. It’s going to hurt your hands the more you do it.”

“But I can just heal them.”

“I know you can, but…” Lorian sighs quietly. “It’s not the kind of thing you can ever heal completely. Even if you fix it now it could get worse later on. The muscles and bones get weaker, they get hurt more easily.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe it’ll be okay.”  Lothric jerks his hands away, tucking them into his lap. “…I want to do it this way. It’s dangerous to use a sword and be a knight, and ride dragons, but you still do it.”

“That’s not the same, Lothric…”

“Why not?” He frowns at his elder brother, defiance glimmering in his dark eyes. “Only I can do magic with my hands. Nobody else. Not even mother.”

“Because I don’t want you to get hurt like I have… I don’t want you to be my age and wake up with everything hurting all over your body, so badly that you don’t ever want to get up, even though you have to.” Lorian doesn’t reach for him again, but watches as he massages the bones of his palm, rubbing them with his thumb.  

“…it’s just magic,” Lothric eventually says. “It’s not as bad as being hit with a mace, or falling off your dragon.”

It made sense, that a child with no concept of what the future held wouldn’t take his warnings seriously.  All Lothric felt right now as a bit of uncomfortable numbness, a sensation that would likely fade in a few hours at most. “I know it’s just magic, but I still want you to try using a staff again. You don’t want to blow up your hands by accident, do you? Even the best sorcerers sometimes miscast.”

“That won’t happen to me.”

“I hope it doesn’t. But you’re still learning, you need to be safe while you practice, alright?“

Lothric still pouts, but his expression has softened a little. His brother cared for him, and he was much more experienced when it came to pain. He wouldn’t want Lorian to worry for him more than he did already. "Okay. I’ll try. But… they said it might not work, that they might not find something that channels magic better than my own hands.”

He’s still rubbing at his palm, trying to work out that uncomfortable, numb feeling. Lorian puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We’ll worry about that later. You’re right, we can heal some of the damage. Maybe not all of it, but that’s just the way it is, isn’t it…” So hard to fix what was broken. And Lothric was so frail already.


End file.
